Calif. lawmakers move closer to education reforms

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California lawmakers moved closer Tuesday to education reforms sought by the Obama administration that would give the state a shot at $700 million in federal money.

The Assembly Education Committee approved two bills designed to help California turn around failing schools, improve student performance and give parents more of a say in their child's education.

The Assembly was expected to vote on the package later Tuesday and send it to the state Senate.

State Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, described the reforms as critical to improving a public education system that serves six million students.

"For too long we in Sacramento have, to an extent, looked the other way when it comes to dealing with students in California who have languished in persistently lower performing schools," Romero told the committee.

Lawmakers were trying to meet a Jan. 19 deadline to apply for the first round of money under the Obama administration's Race to the Top initiative.

President Barack Obama announced the $4.3 billion program in August as a way to encourage states to improve school standards and turn around failing schools.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called a special session of the Legislature shortly afterward, but lawmakers bickered for months over how best to improve schools.

Schwarzenegger said Tuesday California was poised to capitalize on a historic opportunity to reform its failing school system. If children or their parents don't like the education they are receiving, they should be able to move to another school or district, he said.

"It's no different than when you go to a car shop, and if you are not happy with the work we don't pay for it, and we go on to another car shop the next time," Schwarzenegger said after visiting a Sacramento-area middle school.

The legislation approved by the committee strikes a compromise between the Assembly and Senate, although it includes controversial provisions on parental rights.

It requires persistently failing schools to make sweeping changes, including the possibility a school could be closed or converted to a charter school.

Parents at some of the worst failing schools would be empowered to demand changes and move their children from a failing school to a better school. Those options are opposed by teachers unions.

"This is about airlifting some students out and not fundamentally addressing the problem," said Wes Chesbro, D-Arcata. "It solves individual problems, not a community's problems."

Other lawmakers complained the Legislature was rushing into sweeping reforms that would have lasting consequences.

Among the reforms in the bills:

- School districts could tie teacher evaluations to student performance if allowed by collective bargaining agreements.

- The state superintendent of public instruction would identify poor performing schools that need help, including high schools with graduation rates below 60 percent.

- Requires a district with a failing school to take aggressive steps to turn it around that could include replacing the principal and half the staff; converting a school to a charter school; closing the school and enrolling students in other high-achieving schools; and replacing the principal and reforming teaching methods.

- Allows students enrolled in the state's worst 1,000 schools to transfer to higher performing schools. School districts would adopt standards for accepting and rejecting transfer applications.

- Allows parents in poor-performing schools to petition a school district to turn around their school. The program would be limited to 75 schools, a cap imposed as part of the legislative negotiations.